New State Law Aims to Help Doctors Review A Patient’s Prescription History

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joined elected officials and community leaders from New York on Tuesday to celebrate the implementation of New York State’s program for preventing prescription drug abuse.

The I-STOP Act is a national model for other states and congress to follow to curb prescription drug abuse, which is the nation's fastest growing drug problem. The system is a real-time database that tracks every prescription for a controlled substance including narcotic painkillers.

Doctors are now required by law to check that database before writing a prescription for a controlled substance. New York is the only state in the country with such a verification requirement. The database will provide medical professionals with information necessary to detect doctor-shoppers, serve patients at risk of addiction and also avoid the risk of potential dangerous drug interactions.